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On March 6, Jason Garcia noticed he had some congestion and a mild cough.
After a few days and the symptoms kept getting worse, including a fever and body aches. He finally called his doctor and eventually ended up testing positive for the coronavirus.
After a few weeks, he had finally been cleared of having the virus and posted to social media to celebrate.
Garcia said he wrote: "I claimed victory over this deadly virus. I won over Covid-19."
However right around the same team, health officials at St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, California posted they were looking for a recovered COVID-19 patient to help with a new treatment they were working on to save others lives.
A friend saw Garcia's post and St. Joseph's post and reached out to the hospital to call his friend.
They called a few days later and asked Garcia if he'd be willing to donate his plasma to a coronavirus patient who was unresponsive to other treatments. Doctors believed the antibodies from Garcia could help treat others.
He said yes. "This can be turned into a lifesaving opportunity for someone who can't fight off this disease," Garcia said.
On April 1, he donated his plasma for an experimental transfer that would go into three infected patients.
Doctors said his plasma was working.
"When I was diagnosed, the feeling of dread and fear, the fact this was a positive," Garcia explained. "This thing ended up possibly saving someone's life."
"If this works there's going to be an awesome chance for people to save a lot of heartache for others and fight the fight for their lives."
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